Workshop on Sexual Harassment in Academia, Business/Industry, and the Health Care Professions

May 24-25, 2016

The National Academies' Beckman Center

Irvine, California

Sexual harassment in academia can have a large impact on the progression of women in science and engineering. Since the beginning of 2015, incidents involving high-profile male university professors, such as astronomer Geoffrey Marcy at the University of California Berkeley and molecular biologist Jason Lieb at the University of Chicago, have elevated concerns that sexual harassment is a serious problem in science. As more complaints are brought to the forefront, anecdotal accounts, surveys, and studies assert that broad university policies do not protect victims as much as they protect the reputation and professional standing of assailants. Media coverage regarding these issues has also caught Congressional attention. The past year’s revelations have called for the need to closely examine sexual harassment in academia, particularly harassment experienced by women in scientific fields of study.